7 Signs You Were Raised as an Evangelical in the Last 25 Years

by Joshua Rogers on August 18, 2015

The last 25 years have been monumental for the evangelical subculture — it was a time in which we saw the explosive growth of megachurches, the prominence of the True Love Waits campaign, and the end of dc Talk.

If you were raised as an evangelical during these curious years of church history, you know what I’m talking about. And you’ll undoubtedly recognize some of these signs and think, Been there, done that, got the T-shirt — the Christian T-shirt, that is.

1. You have participated in and/or watched the performance of a “human video.” Ah, the human video — that timeless art of a pantomimed skit set to contemporary Christian music, only surpassed in peculiarity by “stick dramas.” Yes, they’re awkward to watch — and even more awkward to perform in — but you know, if only one life is changed….

2. You’ve prayed for Tim Tebow more times than you care to admit. Tim Tebow is the epitome of everything us evangelicals want in a Christian celebrity: He prays in public, paints Scripture references on his face, and he even did a Super Bowl commercial for Focus on the Family! I mean, seriously folks; don’t be ashamed — you can’t help but want to pray for this guy.

3. You know the chorus to the song “Friends Are Friends Forever” — even though it came out in 1983. Michael W. Smith’s famous song about friends may have been released over 30 years ago, but like “Come Thou Fount” and other great hymns of the faith, this song somehow has staying power with evangelicals. We sing it at funerals, graduation ceremonies, and use it as “special music” on Sunday mornings when someone is moving away. We simply can’t be reminded enough times that “a lifetime’s not too long [deep breath — don’t cry!] … to live as friends.”

If you’d like to see the rest of this list, click here, where you can find it at Boundless.org.

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#7, maybe all of us have felt some inclination at some time, but I struggle to think how any of the others apply to me at all. I admit I just have not heard some of the names, my bad! Regarding #1, many Puritans got rid of nativity plays, given their similarly with Roman theatre, so not much knowledge of this either.